Dear Parents and Guardians, I, like so many others in our nation, am heartbroken and outraged by the injustices our African American and people of color experience every day in our country. We all witnessed this at its most horrific level on May 25th when George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis at the hands of 4 police officers. Systemic racism, as a result of conscious and unconscious biases that have created unequal access to basic rights and opportunities, continues to be a plague on our society. It is past the time for us to come together to make real and significant changes to guarantee the rights and protections that are found in law but are often not evident in actions toward people of color each day. This change can only happen when people of my race begin to look inward to openly, honestly and without excuses or defensiveness examine our own biases, and fully recognize that the color of our skin is not something we need to think about each day. We don’t have to teach our children how to navigate the world because of the color of their skin. We expect to be accepted for who we are and that we are judged solely on our own merits. We must recognize that not everyone has that privilege.
As a district, we have worked over the past 4 years to educate ourselves, learn continuously about our own biases, and strive to be allies in our focus to ensure our students, families and colleagues experience a place of acceptance, value, and are seen for the totality of who they are. We adopted a Diversity and Inclusion Statement that must live each and every day in our hearts and not be a platitude we wish to aspire to. By implementing the Social Justice Standards, we are providing a conduit for students to dig in deeply to talk about all of the parts that make them whole and appreciated by discussing their identity; then by developing language to discuss diversity and build empathy, respect, understanding and connections with others; then we focus on justice to learn the harmful impact of bias and injustice historically and in our present day world; and then students learn how to take action to speak up with courage and respect when someone else has been hurt or wronged by bias. We also are taking a hard look at our systems, protocols, hiring practices, curriculum, expectations for student achievement and access to rigorous programs and experiences for all students. We will continue to work toward this reality so we can support our school community to create the meaningful change that must happen for all students and families. We must come together to continually learn, question our assumptions and biases, and be allies for others who do not have the same privileges based solely by the color of their skin. Keep reading to see an important letter that our school psychologists have collaborated on that shares guidance on how to discuss what happened to Mr. Floyd and the protests we see across the country. Also, we have created a Diversity and Inclusion link on our webpage that has curated all of the resources and links I have shared over the past 2 years on diversity, inclusion and equity to be found in one place on our website as a support to our families. Warm regards, Nancy Lynch, Ed.D. Superintendent Reed Union School District Comments are closed.
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